Rice Terraces

The fog lifted around Pu Luong Tree House and we were able to see more of the surrounding mountains and terraces. The Vietnamese coffee (hold the condensed milk) sure is tasty out here.

An Old Vietnamese Lady had a Farm

While Sadie and I were enjoying the morning view, she said to me, "I want to stay on this rock for an entire year. Just think, everything would be changing, the seasons, the colors. That would be amazing."

We were admiring a small garden in front of the hotel that we assumed was part of the hotel, when an elderly Vietnamese women wandered out from a house next to the hotel to work in the garden. It was an incredibly maintained vegetable garden, probably 50x100ft. I asked the owner of our hotel about the woman and her garden. She told me the hotel kitchen buys a good amount of their produce for meals at the hotel.

I need miracle grow, I suspect she doesn't.

During breakfast, I had grabbed this book off the shelf and read the intro. I couldn't help but create a photo for my own laughs.

After checking out the farm, Sadie decided to give a video tour of the hotel, the Pu Luong Treehouse. You'll see at the end a good shot of the lady farming and her plot.

A quick aside, here's to the roosters of Pu Luong, the most handsome fowl that we ever did see!

This dapper fella wandered up from the rice terraces below the hotel to show off. Perhaps he thinks he's a peacock?

School Fail & Fort Making

We got about an hour of math schooling in this morning and then the internet went out. We broke and Sadie disappeared to a fort she had built in the room. She said it was so beautiful it was her favorite window to look out on.

Afternoon Hike

We arranged for a local guide to take us on a 3-hour tour of the surrounding area. Dah didn't speak English, but he made sure we didn't get lost and we used Google Translate to communicate back and forth.

Pumped to be on a hike!

Dah is from the local village, so he knew every person we passed. The first part of our route took us through some neighborhoods where we said hello to families and got to peek a bit into their lives. Paige did a walking tour video, giving a flavor of what we saw. No roads, this neighborhood is accessible by hiking or motorbike only.

On the path, we saw lots of ladies with their baskets, machete or nets headed out to collect food of some type or work in the rice fields. One lady we saw had a full basket of what looked like little fish. Through google translate, we learned they were tadpoles who would soon be boiling in a pot of soup!

The lady in front was having tadpole soup today.

A water buffalo to help plow the rice fields and a family's pond for farming fish.

Dah made hats for the girls. When Paige asked him how he learned, he said, "he'd been making them in the forest since he was a child" (via google translate)

Rice Terrace Walk

With limited English from Dah, we didn't really know where we were going. All of a sudden we went from admiring the rice terraces from above and we turned into the rice fields. These fields were not made for wobbly tourists; these were the real deal! We had to hop around, and fight to keep our balance.

Heading down into the rice fields.

After our rice experience in Laos, we knew the effort and discipline that it takes to grow their crop. Watching the villagers trudge in the rice fields, we had a newfound respect and appreciation for what they were doing.

Into the Mud

First Sadie lost her balance and went kerplunk into a terrace. Shoes cover in mud, inside and out. Then hot dog Paige, just as she was exuding some confidence, took a spill herself! All in all, they were good sports about it. Dah seemed the most distracted, using Google Translate to apologize that he had put our daughters in danger. We shrugged it off, told him not to worry one bit, and that it was the best part of the hike ;)

Authentic

Our walk goes down as a true authentic experience. Throughout the walk we saw villagers going about their daily life, not part of a tourist visiting program. They were all genuinely welcoming with warm smiles, quick "hellos" and a chuckle when we returned the hello in Vietnamese.

The homestretch.

We'll remember this hike with Dah for a long time...